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2 ways looking out for others’ interest and your interests will not make you feel guilty

Have you been accused of being individualistic, self-centered, even selfish? It didn’t bode well with you, not so? On the other end of the line, have you ever put yourself in line for others, making sacrifices for them, only to end up hurting yourself? You will not be willing to do so again. The two situations above can result in personal and inter-personal conflict. This is because as social creatures, sharing means caring, and we are expected and have been brought up to give priority to others over the self. Yet, you cannot eat your cake and have it. You cannot lose your self-interest and hope to pursue your personal goals at the same time.

Man feeling guilty, nun beside him. Credit: DG Jones/Flickr.com

In order to lead more fulfilling, happier lives, when can we, you and I, draw the line between placing the interest of others above our own self-interest?

Why is this important?

By the way, why is the above question important? If we do not satisfy our inherent prosocial desires, we are creating an environment for internal conflict. Internal conflict can result in unexplained or even excessive feelings of guilt for everyday actions. The father of economics, Adam Smith, acknowledged that while markets and commerce function because humans collectively work together, beneath the scene, the invisible hand of self-interest, or the desire to attain something for ourselves, to have a personal advantage, makes this prosocial market interaction beneficial.

Want self-interest without guilt – have it imposed

We often hear reports that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer; that the world’s resources are in the hands of a few rich, influential men while the rest suffer abject poverty. If you are very rich, should you feel guilty about this? No matter what the argument, which the author of this piece will rather put aside, most rich persons feel guilty when faced with this statistic. So they have resorted to philanthropy and immense acts of generosity. There are numerous foundations, like the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, that would gladly turn the tables, as well as numerous economic forums that wish to address this problem.

This altruism even in the face of selfism and greed is due to the internal conflict we face when the above questions are broached; as mentioned earlier. Psychological scientists Jonathan Berman and Deborah Small of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in a recent work, “Self-Interest Without Selfishness: The Hedonic Benefit of Imposed Self-Interest”, believe that to feel accomplished and happy even when pursuing personal advantages, it is beneficial that the desire should be “imposed” on us as individuals, and should not come from our volition. That is, people should see it as a duty, an obligation, that you pursue such a course for the benefit of yourself because it will benefit the common good.

In other words, what Bernard and Small are arguing is that if you desire the perks and advantages of life, you should allow others to confer it on you, to make you want to go for it, and not your initiating the action so that you do not lose your happiness and make yourself guilt-ridden.

Phrases like “I want it now!” will only make you guilty.

You can also make sacrifices without getting hurt.

Self-sacrifice is a virtue. If you fall into this group, you are a rare gem. No amount of money or incentive can reward you enough. But, you will agree with me that no one wants to be self-sacrificing and end up losing out. The majority of persons are averse to losses.

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In order to maintain that excelling quality of self-sacrifice and still minimize your losses, if you foresee any in a venture, say, you intend negotiating with some kidnappers about some victims and if the negotiations go awry, whoever gets the blame might lose so much, or, you want to undertake business ventures for a friend who is sick and are willing to feed him information about how the business is run on a daily and transparent basis, in such cases, you have to “cover your back,” to avoid disappointments and disheartenment. You cannot read the human mind and no one can foretell what time and unforeseen circumstances can cough up in the area of the imagination.

It is expected that you should be clear about the expected values and goals. Be ready to communicate well your fears. Let every party know what the risks are, the losses you foresee. Then ask: Who is going to be responsible for such losses?

Psychologists call these the “sense of agency,” that is, who is going to be responsible, who is going to be at the helm of control? Because you are undertaking these sacrifice, a “sense of ownership” is conferred on you, because you desire to be prosocial than selfish; if you retain the sense of agency for those acts, or are at the helm of control, you have no reason to complain if you are hurt, or end up with unanticipated losses.

If nobody wants to take responsibility, then whatever self-sacrificing action you intend undertaking was not valued, is not needed and is better left alone. Nobody pays money for what is not valuable; nobody is interested in controlling a valueless venture.

It is important that you throw away the sense of agency, the control and responsibility, in situations of self-sacrifice if getting hurt might make you shrink back from your sacrificial character. The essence is for you and others to benefit from your actions while you still get to be able to have your morale, your spirit, the vigor to want to carry out such an action in the future. Only a fool undertakes hurting him- or herself.

Guilt is a terrible thing if you value happiness over material wealth. I faced a similar situation recently and had to take action on it after reading this sciencedaily article. I decided to share it with you because I believe it will greatly benefit you.

Summary: wait for others to impose it on you, or make it deserving of you, if you intend pursuing your personal advantages; transfer control and leadership positions to others if an action you are undertaking is self-sacrificial in nature. Life is all about being happy and satisfied.

Prosocial is virtuous but taking care of yourself is the engine behind it all.

Monitoring bee populations for food sustainability before decline and death.

It is no news that man is faced with a food crisis, especially in developing countries and Africa due to the effects of climate change. Millions go hungry and starve in countries like Sudan and Ethiopia because they do not have enough to eat. Why should it be news that a class of animals, the humble bees, are facing serious decline worldwide?

Bees. Valuable factors in food production. Credit:Alliect 27/Flickr.com

Bees, like bats, are pollinators. That means, they carry pollen from one crop to the other, thereby fertilizing plants. Plant fertilization is a factor for food production. So, the picture is that when bee population is on steep decline, plant fertilization will seriously drop and crop production will also decline. Eventually, if the matter is not tackled on time, we could be awaiting a food catastrophe the like that would drastically change world food sources and supply, and including who gets to eat and who goes hungry. Crops the bees pollinate are also needed as inputs in other industries like the clothing industry.

The mystery of the decline is solved.

The problem is manifold. First, bees are in serious decline. This situation has been referred to as “colony collapse disorder.” Male adult bees are rapidly dying off or deserting their queen, thereby weakening the chances of the survival of the colony. In addition to that, human manipulation has put the lives of these bees at risk. Pesticides have been found in wax samples, some like neonicotinoids, have been identified as posing a danger to the bees and their ability to carry out pollination. Furthermore, habitat destruction and fragmentation as a result of land development and the spread of monoculture agriculture makes the diverse natural food supply that pollinators need scarcer and more expensive. The planting of genetically modified organism (GMO) crops may also be responsible for poisoning bees and weakening their immune systems when these crops contain toxic insecticides within their genetic structure. A Nigerian agriculturist, Mr. Victor Obi, made a note that bee life cycles are being upset. How does this translate to your income and food supplies? In euro terms, about 153 billion euros would be lost worldwide if bees cannot carry out their pollination activities.

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This represents, at 2005 estimates, 9.5% of the value of world agricultural production that humans use as food. Food that are highly at risk are fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee and cocoa. The loss to you as a consumer, that is, what we all stand to lose if nothing is done to stem this rapid bee decline will, in euro terms, amount to between 190 and 310 billion euros in 2005 terms . Not only are widespread global agricultural catastrophe being awaited, but it would overturn and be a huge economic shock to so many economies in the world.

A laudable project you can partake in.

It is important then that this trend be well reported and monitored. It is as much of serious concern as climate change given the figures involved. That is why a lead organizer of an annual bee population counting program, “Great Sunflower Project”, Professor of Biology Gretchen LeBuhn, in a United Nations-sponsored study, is undertaking bee population counting projects in 200 locations worldwide. These projects are to serve as early warning signals that could help agriculturists and conservationists, understand the problem of declining bee populations. And the cost? Just a meager $2 million dollars. Designed to be simple, repeatable, inexpensive and quick to detect bee population declines, compared with the potential economic losses the world faces, the estimated costs for employing international sample sites scaled to fit regional monitoring needs is little change. You can join the Great Sunflower Project if you think you can help the world understand why bee populations are declining.

Solutions before the end comes

Counting and monitoring bee populations could be one solution to solving the problem. Another is also creating bee-friendly seed mixtures. You know, bees are specialized pollinators. That is, they are choosy about crops they pollinate. These seed mixtures aim to attract bees naturally to plants needing their assistance. Another approach would be for beekeepers to stay abreast of the news related to the industry, especially as it pertains to shipping bees to areas where they are needed for commercial pollination, staying clear of harmful pesticides and herbicides etcetera. The rapid decline in bee population is nature’s way of telling us that environmental conditions are seriously declining. Present human breeding practices and the use of deadly toxins should be rethought. Either we will eventually learn to live with less choices in food supply if this trend is not checked, or millions of persons will not find food reaching them for survival, or both. That is why we have to join the fight against bees decline now. You can show your support by visiting the Great Sunflower Project website now!

If happy adolescents make wealthy adults, how not to trade money and income for happiness.

Do you have to be rich to live a good life? Religion and philosophy say “No.” The jury though is out when it comes to income because it depends on what one defines the good life to be. On the other hand, will living the good life make you rich? The evidence says “Yes.” But then, what is a good life and why is it important to us?

A synonym for the good life is well-being or quality of life. Emerson defined this as “the satisfaction of an individual’s values, goals and needs through the actualization of their abilities and lifestyle.” In other words, living a life that moves smoothly; living a happy life. Dr. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and Professor Andrew Oswald believe that youths or adolescents who are happier in life, or who have higher life satisfaction, tend to have higher levels of income, are better educated, find work faster and get promoted quicker. Both researchers found that this relationship also exists in siblings of their subjects. It was also concluded that gloomy youngsters or youths with relationship problems perform less when it comes to earning money compared to their optimistic, outgoing peers.

On the other hand, while having a high quality of life or well-being is important and close to happiness, happiness and wealth work paradoxically.

Poor or rich country, Money has a limit when it comes to attaining happiness.

Citizens of the rich and developed countries are on average happier than their counterparts from poor countries. After accounting for education, political freedom and other democratic rights, the above statement has been found to be true. Yet, it does not mean that money can buy happiness. What the findings show is that money and happiness have a positive association, but only to a point.

Robert E. Lane, a political scientist at Yale, argues that happiness is derived from two sources – material comfort (a.k.a money) and social and familial intimacy (a.k.a love). These two sources, paradoxically, are incompatible. Having more money increases your material comfort and enables you to live a more satisfying life, but it systematically weakens social and familial ties by encouraging mobility, commercializing relationships and attenuating the bonds of both the extended and the nuclear family. Citizens of poor countries have strong social ties and live daily with scarcity of money and poverty. Hence, they tend to rate money highly and even little increases in their income can result in significant reported gains in happiness.

As for those who live in economically developed and richer countries, it has been shown that there is a diminishing return in happiness when the level of wealth crosses a certain stage. This is because earning high income in these countries increases happiness but because of the strong democratic systems and social welfare programs these societies have developed over the years, at a certain point, the expected increase in happiness by earning more and more income becomes a negative – earning more income results in disillusion, social ties are threatened and more money becomes equal to less happiness and more stress.

No wonder people who value money more highly tend to be less happy than those who value love. It is not that love is not important to their lives, but when the urge and inclination for financial achievement becomes a passion and a conditioned reaction, knowing the tipping point, when to stop, becomes an elusive goal. Happiness becomes a commercialized commodity that could be attained only through the media and entertainment industry.

So, then, if Dr. Neve and Professor Oswald argue that living more satisfying lives during one’s adolescent leads to wealthier adulthood, should parents and policy makers take this notice with a pinch of salt since having much wealth will generally lead to lesser happiness for their teens come adulthood?

While money is good, happiness is more surpassing.

The desire to pursue adolescent happiness with the aim of acquiring wealth in later years depends on several factors. One is education. Another is family environment. Motivation for self-improvement and work, along with good health, are also at play. If these factors can be accounted for, it is worth pursuing because money is a good thing and material comfort makes life richer.

It should be noted too that for people with varying incomes, the impact of income on well-being is only an illusion. People with high income do not necessarily have quality time. Also, people with high income tend to be agnostic to religion where more religion is seen in happier people due to the strong social and communal bonds that religion promotes which may not relate necessarily to belief in religion itself.

People care about their “status”, or their relative financial standing with regard to others. Earning high income is a positive thing and should be encouraged. After an income shock, most persons have shown tremendous ability to adjust to the impact of that shock, which is remarkable because without this adaptive capability, there would be much unhappiness and social stress after an economic crisis.

See also:

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So, income and happiness exhibit positive association. Every country wants its citizens to be happy, to live fulfilled lives, that is why they pursue policies that will enhance the quality of life and well-being of their citizens. This makes them happier. If income doesn’t buy happiness, it can buy a visit to the spa, a warm bath, achievable college degrees and many other material comforts. Our lives would be stressful and unfulfilled if we strive to attain these and are not able to.

The caveat is: at what point in your pursuit of wealth and high income are you trading your happiness for wealth? We should desire that our youths and teenagers pursue lifestyles that makes for materially comfortable adulthood, but while emphasizing moral values and societal virtues above financial pursuits, at what point in this education will we as parents and policy makers go too far? Without happiness, wealth is just a beautiful illusion.

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